
Jurgen Klopp hints he may NEVER return to management as former Liverpool boss admits ‘I no longer had a normal life'
The German coach quit Liverpool at the end of last season after nine years in charge of the Anfield outfit.
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Having now had more than a year to reflect on his career options, Klopp, 58, candidly revealed he believes his time in the dugout could be over.
Speaking to German outlet, Welt, the former Borussia Dortmund boss admitted life as a football coach took him "too far away from a normal life".
He recalled how he lost 16 kilos between his time leaving Borussia Dortmund and joining Liverpool, thanks to being on top of his diet and exercising - something he couldn't do when mulling over tactics.
Klopp said: "I was in a tunnel, but never with myself. Now I pay more attention to myself.
"As silly as it sounds, I stopped doing what I always wanted to do.
"But it took me too far away from normal life – and ultimately, I no longer had a normal life.
"Whatever normal life is: my car knew three ways: to the stadium, to the training ground, and home."
Klopp explained how while he had plenty of visitors in Liverpool, he barely had any time for them - referencing how he had been to two weddings in the last four months as opposed to none in 23 years before that.
Following his Liverpool exit, Klopp has found new roles as Red Bull's Head of Global Soccer and in the latest Hotel: Trivago, advertisements.
But the Premier League and Champions League winner hasn't been short of top clubs wanting to add him to their ranks, with Bayern Munich inquiring over his availability.
Arne Slot shows his class as he leads Anfield in chant about Jurgen Klopp after sealing 20th title for Liverpool
However, despite chats with Jose Mourinho and Roy Hodgson about coaching, his gut feeling is that while he loved his job, he doesn't miss it.
Asked about his links to Bayern, Klopp said: "But I don't want that anymore. I have a job now that fulfills me and is also intense.
"I don't sleep in the morning and I don't go to bed later at night, but I can organise my work much better.
"My wife, for example, is really happy with it because we can plan things much better that we couldn't before...
"Of course I enjoyed it too. Some days I couldn't believe my luck. Just look where I came from - and then I made it to Liverpool FC, and it worked out pretty well there.
"If I were to go back to coaching somewhere, it would all start again. I'm me! I can't just take over and coach.
"Then I'd be completely involved everywhere again. And I just don't see that happening anymore."
On his chats with Hodgson and Mourinho, he continued: "He (Hodgson) came up to me and asked how I was. In the same breath he said to me: 'I miss it.'
"And I was like: 'What?' Roy is 77 years old - and he wants to be a coach again. Unbelievable!
"When we played against Crystal Palace with Liverpool, I always asked him whether his apartment was damp or why he was standing on the pitch now.
"But Jose Mourinho also said to me: 'This is not the end.' There are those coaches who always want to do that. I loved being a coach, but I was never addicted."
Klopp also ruled himself out of taking a job at one of the Red Bull teams.
By Dave Kidd
NOW we know Jurgen Klopp's final major trophy haul at Liverpool — one Champions League, one Premier League, one FA Cup, two League Cups and (if you must) a World Club Cup.
But where does his reign stand among the greatest of the Premier League era?
In black-and-white terms, Klopp is way behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, the only two men to have won multiple Premier Leagues and a Champions League at the same club.
Those two sit alongside Brian Clough, Bob Paisley and Sir Matt Busby as the undoubted all-time managerial greats of the English game.
But Klopp ranks in the next tier down — with Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho (the Chelsea version), Bill Shankly and Don Revie.
These were all men with the strength of character to transform their clubs in their own image and enjoy success but who did not win as much as they might have done.
Had Klopp managed to keep his intentions under wraps and ended up with another title, perhaps even a treble or quadruple, he'd have edged himself up into that highest echelon with Ferguson, Guardiola, Clough, Paisley and Busby.
But deciding the timing and the manner of your exit is one of the toughest calls for any manager or sportsman.
Klopp got it wrong.
Or click here to check out all of Dave Kidd's articles.
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